Megan Fox on getting fired from Transformers for 'Hitler' comment: 'I thought I was Joan of Arc'

Megan Fox became the poster girl of choice for most young boys following the success of the first two Transformers movies. But then, just as quickly, she found herself booted from the series and replaced by Victoria Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley for the third film.

Eight years later, the actress talks about the events that led to her being fired, and the lessons she learned from it.

"All I had to do was apologise – and I refused," she told Cosmopolitian in an interview for its December issue. Fox was referring to her infamous criticism of the film's director Michael Bay back in 2009 when she said he was like "Hitler on his sets". "He wants to create this insane, infamous madman reputation," she told Wonderland magazine at the time.

Looking back now, the 31-year-old recalls the effect her actions had on her career. "That was absolutely the low point of my career," she said. "But without 'that thing', I wouldn't have learned as quickly as I did. I was so self-righteous at 23, I couldn't see [that] it was for the greater good. I really thought I was Joan of Arc."

While Fox did get another big break with Jennifer's Body that same year, she acknowledged that her behaviour hurt a lot of other people aside from herself before leading to self-improvement. "That darkness that descended caused enormous and brisk spiritual growth. Once I realised I [had] brought it on myself, it was an invaluable learning experience, looking back on it."

Since then, Fox and Bay have managed to repair the rift between them and worked together on his reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) and, in 2016, the actress reprised her role as April O'Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

On the small screen, she made recurring appearances on New Girl in 2015, taking over for Zooey Deschanel, who was on maternity leave at the time.

Fox plays the female lead in James Franco's film adaptation of Zeroville, which is currently in the post-production phase and will release in 2018.

She is married to Brian Austin Green and the couple have three sons together – Noah (4), Bodhi (3) and one-year-old Journey River.